“Heavy instrumental music from the birthplace of rock n’ roll.” - that’s what is says on ONUS’ Bandcamp page. And yes, what you read is what you’ll hear. The trio from Memphis really plays a heavy kind of Post-Rock. However, their (seemingly) nautically inspired music is not lacking melody as well.
When listening to the three tracks on ONUS’ debut EP it is quickly obvious that the three guys behind the record are not young, inexperienced amateurs. The guys have learned how to make the best use of their instruments and have found a really good sound for the two songs and one interlude, it becomes clear that they have “trained” ears: the band has certainly been listening to its share of (instrumental) Post-Metal and that is clear, you can hear elements alike in Russian Circles, Meniscus, Year Of No Light and even the groove of Pelican at times.
Interesting about this release is the importance of the interlude. Oftentimes these short “songs/passages in between” are nothing more than an intro to the next one, but here it changes the mood, the atmosphere drastically. The opening track ”Skeletornado” is very rough, a true “tornado” resulting in nothing less than complete chaos and wrecking havoc among its survivors. The track starts with a pretty nice mellow mood and takes its time before going into attack-mode with a regular, nicely-done riff that is then even gaining speed and groove after two-thirds of its length. Yes, nothing new under the sun, but well-executed. And then, as aforementioned, the ”Interlude” really sits back and has the survivors take a long, evaluating look at everything that has happened. Here the nice little twang of the bass guitar is important as it sounds a little bit an underwater recording, which – of course – would fit in well with the EP title Each Of Us Is An Ocean. In a way that title reminds me of John Donne’s famous line “No man is an island.” which also rings true for this record. No one is a unique island without predecessors or successors, we are all part of a big ocean that we call history and context.
ONUS are pushing a lot of the right buttons on this record and thus Each Of Us Is An Ocean is a sure bet for genre-fans. It has the doom, the gloom, the overlapping riffs and hard guitar lines, a really good drum section and all its moments are something you can surely immerse yourself in.
